Archery Hunting Equipment

Equipment Needed For Archery Hunting

The right archery hunting equipment will make you a better deer hunter. Today, all you have to do is pick up a catalog like the Bass Pro Shops Archery specialists catalog to see how this great deer hunting activity has evolved. The art of getting close enough to the whitetail deer, and the ability to harvest a trophy deer while hunting with archery equipment, is just plain exciting and fun! If your an avid deer hunter, who isn't yet hunting deer with archery equipment; you are missing out on one of the greatest deer hunting experiences known to hunters. Once you have spotted a trophy deer coming into your hunting area, and waited him out (in some cases minutes) for that perfect opportunity for an archery shot. Then you draw your bow, released an arrow, and watched it fly into and through a deer; your hooked! You will want to do it again and again. There is something about archery hunting that is addictive. As deer hunting seasons come and go, you will want to upgrade your archery equipment for hunting.

You will want new hunting equipment that will make you a better deer hunter. Again, check out new hunting equipment by clicking on one of these banners.

Your Archery Equipment Needs To Fit You

One size does not fit all. Archery hunting bows are not alike. There are longbows, crossbows, recurve, and compound bows. Those are the basic types of bows. All will harvest a trophy deer if matched up properly to the hunter and you have the right archery equipment accessories. Then you will need to practice, practice, and practice some more. Archery hunting is not like rifle hunting. Your back muscles have to be in shape to draw your bow and hold it at full draw length for up to a minute, maybe longer. If you archery hunt enough, a time will come when you see a trophy deer coming at you on stand. Just imagine him coming into your shooting lane; you draw on him, only to have him stop a foot or two short of your release point. What do you do? If you let up on the bow string, there is a good chance he will see that and spook. So you hold your draw, it seems like eternity. Your arms start to shake and weaken. Why? Two reasons basically; one is your not strong enough to hold the string back for the time you need too. The other is that the bow draw weight is to heavy. Don't blame the deer. The bow may not really fit you. A rule of thumb that has always worked for me is to go to your favorite archery equipment shop; talk to the archery pro there. Tell that person your goals are. With their advice and help, select the bow (in a draw weight you can handle) you are interested in. With supervision, draw an arrow at the archery target and hold it at full draw for 1 minute. Not 55 seconds, one minute. Did you start to shake? Did you get that arrow creep where you let the string creep forward ever so little and then have to pull it back to full draw. Did your arms get tired? If you answered yes to any of these; that bow really doesn't fit you in my opinion. Ask yourself; what's going to happen when you have been on stand for hours. It gets cold out, you are stiffening up; and here comes that 12 point trophy buck you have dreamed about shooting? Those dreams are going to turn into a nightmare of regrets. Your bow has to fit you in draw weight and length.

An Archery Hunters Draw Length

As a general rule, a bows longer draw length (considering the same bow draw weight) will cast an arrow faster than a bow with shorter draw length. But this doesn't necessarily mean you should shoot a bow with the longest draw length you can possibly shoot. You need to consider a couple things here. Most of us practice when the weather is nice. Many times we do it in tee-shirts, shirt, or a light overcoat. Pile on a couple layers of hunting clothing and see if it effects your hold and where the string travels. I like to shoot a bow that is 1/2 inch short for my draw length to compensate for those days when I will have multiple layers of clothing on. My bow string has total clearance no matter how much hunting clothing I have on. One less mistake to make.

Archery Equipment - Arrow Length

Once you know your draw length you can determine your arrow length. I like to add at least 1/2 inch (at the arrow rest) more to the arrow length when I'm at full draw. For safety reasons, I'll sacrifice a foot or two of arrow speed for total clearance when I have a broadhead on the shaft. Fallow the arrow manufacturers charts and grafts to select to right arrow for your bow type and draw weight.

Archery Tackle Box

Build yourself a archery equipment tackle box for most of your miscellaneous supplies that you will need off and on. I use a large fishing tackle box.

It is a convenient place to keep things related to archery hunting.

More Archery Hunting Equipment Tips

1. If shooting a compound bow; use a release aid and factor that into the draw length and arrow shaft length. Consider a back release shooting aid if you jerk a trigger release. A back release will help you with that consistent surprise release we all want.

2. Match your archery equipment; try to stay with the same manufacturer for bow and quiver.

3. Use a quality arrow rest; I prefer the drop-away style on my compound hunting bow.

4. Purchase a high quality, light gathering site, and have it installed on your hunting bow. Many times you will get an opportunity for a shot at first or last legal hunting light. Use a peep, install it in your bow string at eye level to give you that distant aiming point reference. Just like a hunting rifle.

5. Use a quality hunting stabilizer and vibration dampening aids. They help!

6. Use a bow wrist sling; it will help your shooting accuracy.

7. Wax your bow string. This will help your bow string last longer and help prevent it from fraying.

8. Shoot sharp broadheads when hunting. When archery hunting, your game will die from hemorrhage, not shock. Practice with field tips that weight the same amount of grains as your hunting broadheads. Practice with the broadheads you will be hunting with too. Large fixed blades tend to plain when flying through the air.

9. Get yourself a good quality archery target or two. The archery targets I like to use are the targets that look like deer. These archery targets are also the same size as your average deer, or larger. Practice on these from stand heights, in a wooded area. Get use to shooting in hunting environments.

10. Put a small (size of quarter or no bigger than a matchbook) dot on your archery target to shoot at. Keep it small. Do not shoot at paper plates! So much of our shooting technique is done subconsciously. I believe that when a archer is at full draw, holding on a target, trying to center in on a large spot, he or she may unconsciously release the arrow before they are ready, or want to shoot. You will ask yourself; "why did I do that?" You didn't release it, your subconscious mind did. Your brain said to you, "your on target, close enough, shoot, my arms are getting tired." Try a small spot on your archery target; I think you will amazed at how much tighter your shot groups get.

11. Camouflage yourself when bow hunting! Match the camouflage to your deer hunting terrain and stand sites. If you don't, you'll stick out. Be aware of your silhouette and your background.

12. Practice sent control. You stink! Your boots stink! Wear rubber boots for hunting only. Use hunting lure scents for attractants, cover ups, mock scrapes, and aids to fool the whitetail. Hunt facing the wind; again, you stink! Deer don't like human scent. Conceder using charcoal lined clothing; fallow manufactures directions for cleaning and scent control.

13. Use portable hunting stands, climbing stands, ladder stands, and blinds.

Use safety harnesses correctly; fallow the manufactures directions for use. I use one of the newer style safety vest harnesses. Use these harnesses going up and down the tree also, not just on stand. Most falling accidents happen climbing up and into a hunting stand or getting out and to the ground. Don't become a statistic for some hunting safety advertisement.

14. Use a deer call and a rangefinder. Practice with both. You can call a deer into range, but you have to know what the range is to effectively harvest a whitetail deer with a bow. Remember; your shooting at a target about the size of a volleyball (now you know why so many practice at a paper plate), read number 10 again.

15. Use a backpack or fanny pack for extra hunting equipment, food, hydration items, first aid, survival items, small archery equipment, entrails removing tools, phone, radio, compass/GPS, rope and other miscellaneous items you will want or need. It is better to have a pack that is to big once in a while than one you wish you could put more items into.

As the weather gets colder, you will carry more items with you; like extra gloves, face mask, down vest, thermos and more. Note roll of toilet paper used for marking blood trails. Good luck, stay safe, and fallow good advice as it pertains to deer hunting archery equipment and it's safe use.